Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Thea Soland, longtime resident of Leisure World, had commented to her friends that over the years she had never had a birthday party...her birthday on December 28 was just too close to other celebrations and parties. Well, several of her friends got together and planned a surprise party for her 85th birthday!Thea usually knows everything that is going on around the park, so how they kept this party secret and a surprise is sort of miraculous...but surprised she was!Rene and Joey Woods, new residents in Leisure World, have been helping Thea lately, and they were a big part of the party planning crew. (These photos are all courtesy of Joey!)Pat LaFoe was right in the middle of things as well.And Debbie Collins is always whispering secrets to the other park residents.Loads of cards and a few special gifts will help Thea remember her 85th birthday PARTY!When just a few of her Leisure World friends turned out to help her celebrate.HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THEA, from everyone in the Leisure World family.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Don't know what Carolyn, Jo and Jan put in the punch, but everyone was going around so happy and feeling the spirit of Christmas. The punch was delicious ladies...

The food was great also and as the residents kept coming in, there was almost no more room left on the table.

Sandi Quinn did a good job in leading us with Christmas carols.

Phyllis and Pat were only trying to sing jingle bells - they were entertaining each other with their bells....

Now what was Pat telling Santa to put on his list for her???

Paula Kinard's granddaughter also got the chance to tell Santa what she would like for Christmas. Did you hear that Grandma Paula?

What a nice gift for Paula to have her daughter and granddaughter visit her at this time of the year. Everyone seem to enjoy the friendship, food and exchanging gifts on this special night. Thanks to all the "crew" who once again did a super job of planning the evening.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Merry Christmas family and friends!We are sending some beautiful pictures of Alaska in the winter time. There are pictures of the hoar frost which is ice crystals formed by the condensation of atmospheric water vapor on a surface. In other words - frozen fog! It starts out with just a few crystals clinging to the branches, but as the days go by everything gets covered with layer upon layer of frost crystals and it gets more and more beautiful with each layer. There are also more moose pictures. Just about everyday now we snap a moose picture or two. They are so big but docile that it is just fun to watch them amble about from tree to tree nibbling their dinner. Scott takes a lot of the pictures while I'm at school. He's kind of a moose magnet! For some reason the moose like to come out of nowhere and saunter in front of the truck while Scott is trying to drive. Just yesterday we had one brush up against the truck as we sat there. Note in the really good close up, this particular moose has blue eyes! I think Scott is getting just a little too close to these moose! This guy almost stuck his head in our window. Scary, but cool! And Scott just clicks away. The other amazing winter wonder in Anchorage is the roads. Say, " Thank God we pay taxes," when you drive in the winter in Minnesota. Minnesota knows how to sand & salt the roads as they plow them so people can get around. In Anchorage first, you must purchase 4 studded tires for your vehicle, next, put about 200 pounds of weight in the back of your car or truck and then get ready for the ride of your lifetime on roads of glare ice! Somehow the people of Anchorage have been convinced that you cannot put salt on the roads because it would harm the salmon. Last I checked salmon live most of their lives in the salt water of the ocean - but what do I know! Perhaps I could become a multimillionaire if I could find some company that could make my idea of dehydrating the ocean water to separate the salt - using the salt on the roads and the fresh water, that is a biproduct, in public spaces either for decorative purposes or for watering/irrigating park lands. There is easily a good solid inch of ice on the roads at all times. It's a little scary at first but then when you realize how well your studded tires work it's driving as usual, you just spin a little to start. So, that is all the news to go along with the pictures.Now for the really BIG news! As most of you know Scott was not very fond of Alaska when we first got here, so he went back to Minnesota to hunt and have bonding time with his buddies. We called it Camp Minnesota. He was gone for 6 weeks but realized after just 3 short days - He missed his sweetie! So on Thanksgiving he flew back to Alaska and was prepared to stay the full 2 years we had planned on. In fact, he was even willing to stay a 3rd year if we could go back to Minnesota in the summer time between year 2 and 3. At about the same time I was putting up with the basic BS of the work place. Just about 2 weeks before my 58th birthday I had had enough. I'm too old to be playing these goofy games and I don't have to. So I said, "That's it honey, I'm only staying one year!" Scott fell on his knees and thanked God for answering his prayers! So, if you're planning to visit us please come this June or July. Our kids and grandchildren are coming up at the end of July and then when we fly them home we will be following in our truck, camping our way back to Minnesota. Our plan right now is to see Kodiak Island and the Aleutian Chain in early August then take the ferry down to Washington and start our highway trek home via who knows how? Our plan is to be home by October sometime. We'll also be in Minnesota in March for 1 week seeing all our doctors and getting checked out for whatever other adventures we can think of between then and October. We'll see you all before you know it!!!Tomorrow we are leaving for Fairbanks and North Pole, Alaska. We are going to Chena Hot Springs for a few days and then plan to be at the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Some one has to help Santa get the sleigh ready to go. We'll send more pictures when we get back. Today, the high in Fairbanks was -25 degrees and the low was predicted to be -40 degrees below 0. It's warming up tomorrow to -10degrees so off we go!!! Our mision is to snowshoe, cross-country ski, have an appletini in the ice museum in a goblet made of ice, and take a snow-cat ride to the top of the mountain to view the northern lights from 10 PM - 2AM. We'll also be in Fairbanks at latitude 65 degrees on the shortest day of the year, Dec. 21. They will have only 3 hours and 42 minutes of daylight that day. We are used to at least 5 hours of daylight here in Anchorage. The sun usually rises at 10:10 AM and sets at 3:40 PM. Well, that's all for now. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!Love,Rita & Scott

Community Classified

PLEASE NOTE: A prospective resident should not complete the purchase of a home in Leisure World prior to obtaining approval for residency from Park Management.

FOR ADDITIONS, DELETIONS, CORRECTIONS or UPDATES in the Classifieds, contact Scotty Marriner at Lot 221. Also text, email or phone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SERVICES